Principles of Rapid Weight Loss in Female Sambo Athletes

Abstract

In combat sports, competitors are separated into weight divisions, to create equality between the athletes. Consequently, rapid weight loss (RWL) is a common practice in combat sports. Although the methods used to induce RWL are similar among athletes, currently, there are limited data concerning the RWL methodologies used by sambo athletes. Therefore, this study aimed at determining RWL procedures among female sambo athletes. Participants in the study were top-level athletes competing at the World Sambo Championship held in Novi Sad. A total sample of 47 female sambo athletes, of whom 24 were seniors (27.3 ± 4 year/age, 1.61 ± 0.09 m/height, 61.8 ± 8.87 kg/weight) and 23 juniors (18.7 ± 0.8 year/age, 1.66 ± 0.07 m/height, 63.7 ± 12.1 kg/weight), were examined in the study. To determine RWL methods, data were collected through a standardized questionnaire. As a result, 88.7% of the female sambo athletes declared that they intentionally cut their weight before the competition. The most commonly used methods were gradual dieting, followed by sauna, fluid restriction, and skipping meals. The most considerable influence on the RWL strategies of athletes came from coaches and personal trainers, while physicians and dietitians were far less influential. The results obtained from this representative sample highlight the most common practices concerning weight cutting prior to competition among females. Therefore, there is a need to inform and educate both athletes and coaches about the potentially harmful effects of RWL in combat sports.

Rapid Weight Loss Practices in Grapplers Competing in Combat Sports

“…Athletes in our sample started their RWL practices as adults (19 years old). These results, however, are different from results obtained in previous studies (Berkovich et al, 2016;Kons et al, 2020;Drid et al, 2021;Figlioli et al, 2021;Todorovic et al, 2021), while some reports indicate that athletes even as young as 5 years old lost weight to compete (Sansone and Sawyer, 2005). A possible explanation may be in the fact that our respondents started to train grappling in later years, compared to athletes from the mentioned studies.…”

“…Coaches were the most influential people to all athletes, regardless of gender, while parents and physicians were the least influential. This deviates to some extent from previous studies, especially in terms of parental influence ( Kons et al, 2020 ; Drid et al, 2021 ; Figlioli et al, 2021 ; Todorovic et al, 2021 ). It is possible that the athletes in our study were older, and therefore there were not influenced by their parents.…”

“…The most used methods in this study were gradual dieting, sauna, and skipping meals. Comparable results were found in the sample of elite male and female Sambo athletes ( Figlioli et al, 2021 ; Todorovic et al, 2021 ). In one small sample of judo athletes, the magnitude of RWL was lower than in this study, while the methods they used were predominantly gradual dieting and increasing exercise ( Gann et al, 2015 ; Kons et al, 2020 ).…”

“…The magnitude of RWL among sports may be determined by the type of sport, competition structure (one match event vs. tournament), and duration between weigh-in and competition ( Matthews et al, 2019 ). For example, it was reported recently that 87% of sambo athletes cut their weight before the competition ( Drid et al, 2021 ), and almost 90% of female sambo athletes reported doing the same ( Todorovic et al, 2021 ). Wrestling is the most commonly studied sport for RWL, with the prevalence of RWL among wrestlers varying between 40 and 90% ( Khodaee et al, 2015 ).…”

Rapid weight loss (RWL) method on game performance of martial art athletes

“…Martial athletes usually use a rapid weight loss strategy which is carried out as a rapid weight loss (Todorović et al, 2021). The weight loss period used is usually 7 days before the match (Joseph et al, 2018).…”